Hand In Hand
by Mak0t0Naegi
Summary: Kirigiri is an experienced detective and a simple drug bust isn't a problem for her. It won't hurt to let Naegi come along...right? Slight spoilers for the first game. Rated T for death, including suicide.


**Authors Note: Wow I can't believe I'm posting this. I wrote the end first and then decided to build on it and I didn't expect it to be this long. I'm really proud of it and I hope you enjoy! There is a lot of violence and death in this (including suicide) so be careful if any of that stuff triggers you in any way. **

"Where are you going?" Naegi sits up in the bed. Kirigiri freezes, her hand on the doornob.

"I'm just going to take care of some...work business. You stay here, it's late. Nothing exciting, don't worry." She silently hopes he doesn't see the gun in her other hand. But he knows her too well.

"I'm coming with you! It's too dangerous for you to go alone!" He jumps out of bed and quickly gets dressed. Kirigiri debates weather or not to run from the house, but realizes Naegi would just wander the streets calling her name, attracting all sorts of unwanted people. She sighs.

"That's exactly why I'm going alone! You aren't experienced in this kind work. I don't want you to get hurt. I'll be fine. This is something I'm going to be doing my whole life, so trust me. I can do this." Kirigiri knows that she can't persaude him but she'll still try. He shakes his head and takes his hand in hers.

"I want to come with you. And I want to protect you with every thing I have. Even my life. Kirigiri-san, I'm good luck, remember?" She tries to force down a smile but she can't. Good job, she thinks to herself, you just lost the argument. She rolls her eyes and walks out the door with Naegi right behind her.

Kirigiri was about to carry out a drug bust. But not just an ordinary drug bust. For years the police had been pursuing a crime ring that had focused themselves around Hope's Peak Academy. She had been personally asked by her father to find those responsibile. Despite her loathing to do anything for him, she agreed that the perpetrators should be caught immideately.

She walked quickly towards the warehouse. It was jut a couple blocks away from the school. A black van was parked outside of it. Naegi followed, much louder than her. Whenever she glanced back at him he would apologize but she would just hold a finger up to her lips to shush him. A couple dim lights illuminated what looked like the only door.

Kirigiri walked right past it, to the back of the building.

"Kirigiri-san? Why aren't we going in there?" Naegi whispered.

"It's obviously a trap. It would be much safer to go the back way. The fact that you didn't know there was one proves that our entry will be much less noticeable."

Naegi whispered "Oh," and stumbled after her. Just as Kirigiri predicted, the back door wasn't guarded. The door had rusty hinges and creaked but they entered the warehouse without attracting the attention of anyone.

Down a long hallway they were met with stairs. Half way up they could hear voices. Kirigiri held her gun in front of her, scolding herself for forgetting to arm Naegi. She wondered if she should just send him back...no, it's not safe for him to be by himself. It's too late to go back.

At the top of the stairs they walked onto a catwalk. Under them, the main part of the warehouse was littered with old cars. Kirigiri could see the backs of a few men in suits. They carried breifcases and she could see the obvious bulge of a gun on different parts of their clothing. She motioned for Naegi to follow her as they crouched down to stay out of sight. The cat walk wrapped around the whole warehouse and another door lay on the other side. She could see a partially open door with stairs behind it underneath it.

"Naegi! We have to get to that door. Be very careful and very quiet. We're in the shadows up here but we could easily reveal ourselves to those men down there. Okay?" Naegi nods and moves close to Kirigiri. He kisses her forehead and says, "I love you Kyouko Kirigiri. Now let's do this!"

As they moved closer to the men they could pick out a few phrases of their conversation.

"...running late...had to wrap up some work business...something about his daughter...I hope she has her mother's good looks!" The group burst into laughter and nudged one another with their shoulders with raised eyebrows. Kirigiri threw a disgusted glance at them before slipping through the door.

Just as she had predicted, there was a flight of stairs leading down. Kirigiri handed her cellphone to Naegi.

"If something happens call the police. Hopefully this shouldn't take too long," She started running down the stairs, giving herself a mental pep talk. "Stay. Here." Kirigiri turns around and gives Naegi a weak smile.

She slides behind the door leading to the group in question. Taking a deep breathe, she runs through it.

"Japanese Police Department! Freeze!" They stare at her for a moment, then check their wacthes.

"Wait one second will ya? He's not here yet. He said that you should wait until he arrives." One man says, barely looking in her direction. Kirigiri sat in shock for a moment, then shot the man in the leg. He was an idiot if he thought she couldn't see him pulling his gun out of his sleeve. He screams and sinks to the ground.

Kirigiri runs behind the nearest car and starts picking them off. There was about ten of them, not including the man screaming in pain on the ground. Shooting loose an old pipe, Kirigiri knocks out two of them. Another one is down with a bullet to the shoulder. She easily dodges their careless shots.

Kirigiri aims to shoot another man in the leg, but a voice makes her freeze.

"Well I see you got right down to business, Kyouko. You never were one to stall." All of the men put down their guns at stand attention to the person standing in the doorway. They hold Naegi in a choke hold and point a gun to his head.

Her father, Jin Kirigiri. Headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy. And apparently the leader of his own crime ring.

She wanted to laugh at what a joke this all was. Her father would put down the gun. The men moaning on the ground would get up and show her the different bullet proof vests and leg guards they wore. Naegi would laugh too because he was in on it. Everyone would rub it in her face that she didn't catch on. Then they would go home, safe and sound.

But that's not what was going to happen and Kirigiri knows it.

"If you were that desperate to kill me couldn't you have done it without endangering your...side business?" She asks, glancing at the group of men.

"What would you have done? You should know that the both of us aren't going to leave here alive. Now," Her father flashes a manical smile. Kirigiri wonders when he turned into this puny excuse for a human. He always was weak. "Who will it be?"

He pushes Naegi in front of him. Making a shooing motion with his hand, her father gets Naegi to start moving towards Kirigiri. Scenarios run through her head. What is he planning?

"Now, Kyouko come here. But remember if you try anything I will shoot him and then you. Hand him the gun when you pass, we all know he can't use it." Terse chuckles are forced from the others. Kirigiri slowly walks towards her father. She bites her lip, trying to think of a way out of this. Her hands were tied, if she shot her father the others would kill her and Naegi. If she did nothing, her father would kill her and then, without a doubt, Naegi.

When they pass each other, Kirigiri gives her gun to Naegi and whispers, "Run." He stares at her for a moment before walking towards the car that she was behind just moments ago. Kirigiri doesn't look back.

"It's your fault, really. You also poked your nose in everything. You were getting too close to knowing the truth and we all know that you would have turned me in. You once were fond of me. When did it get like this?" Jin smiles for a moment then brings his face back to a neutral expression. "Don't worry. I don't blame you for hating me."

He clicks off the safety and points the gun towards her. They're about ten feet apart. Kirigiri thinks about the precious moments as a child when her father was there. He would spend every moment with her. But he chose to leave. He deserved everything that happened to him.

"Three...two..." She takes a deep breathe and closes her eyes. She didn't want it to end this way, not with Naegi watching. She could hear him moving behind her. Moving from one foot to the other, a little tick he had when he was nervous. But then why were his footsteps getting closer...? Kirigiri's eyes shoot open but it's too late.

The gun goes off. Kirigiri is thrown to the ground. She stares above her, at Naegi. He smiled at her then coughed out some blood and sank to the ground. Jin mutters under his breathe and flicks his hand. His "associates" raise their guns and start shooting.

Anger rushes through Kirigiri and she lets out something close to a roar. She grabs her gun from Naegi's hand and starts fireing wildly. Her bullets find their mark in the chests of her attackers. She ignored the fact that she was suppose to apprehind them alive.

While the others drop like flies, Jin runs to the door. It takes Kirigiri just a few seconds to follow him. He rushes up the stairs and onto the catwalk. She curses as he starts to gain a lead. Shooting at him without much precision, Kirigiri manages to graze his side. He stumbles for a moment and gets back up. But it gives her the time to come up behind him and shoot. Over and over. After he stops twitching she calmly walks up to him. She rolls him over.

He's still alive, but barely. Kirigiri smiles. She easily picks him up and props him up on the siderail of the catwalk. Looking down she can see all of the bodies.

"Once again, you failed. I hope you die knowing that you have never achieved anything. You are a coward. I was a fool to ever love you. Die, you spinless roach." Kirigiri pushes him off. He lands with a nice squishing sound. For a moment, she has a feeling of peace. Everything is okay.

Then she remembered Naegi.

Kirigiri rushes to the body. He lays on his back, his head turned to one side. It's as if he's asleep. His hair is messy but the ahoge still stands. It always puzzled her how his ahoge truly worked. She tries to force a laugh but only a weeze comes out.

His hands meet at his stomach, right under the bullet. She had told him not to come, told him it was too dangerous. But he wanted to be there in case something went wrong. And when it did, he protected her.

Kirigiri waits for tears, but they don't come. She wants to scream. She wants to pick him up and carry him to a hospital. But she doesn't move. Kirigiri sits silently, watching over his body. It's the least she could do.

When he was shot, she had to finish off their attackers. She wasn't able to go to him in time. He died alone, with her killing in the background. But he would have forgiven her.

"Don't lose hope, Kirigiri-san! It's not your fault. Please don't blame yourself!"

If she touches the body, will it fade? Will the memory of him disappear over time, until she can no longer truly remember what his face looked like? She dealt with so much death as a detective but this is different. Kirigiri frantically searches for something to hold on to, some kind of reassurance. But nothing stops her world from ripping itself apart.

She sees her entire life laid out before her now. His ghost is there, every step of the way. She grows up. Even if she finds someone, it will never be like how it was with him. It would be too painful to have children. They would somehow remind her of him. She would work as a detective, seeing the story played out over and over. Seeing him dying all over again every day.

No. That is not what she wants. Kirigiri smiles. She knows what she has to do. She can see him from across the room, patiently waiting for her. She wouldn't want him to get bored. Kirigiri pulls the gun from her pocket and flicks off the safety. She moves one of his arms and lays right beside him. Kissing him on the forehead, she only briefly wonders what the others will think. But she knows they will understand. Eventually.

"Goodnight, Naegi. This is only the end of the beginning, right?. Now we can have all of those adventures you talked about." Kirigiri places the gun in her mouth. He stands above her holding his hand out. With her free hand, she takes it. She decides not to close her eyes. She doesn't want to lose sight of his face for a second. "I love you, Makoto Naegi."

BANG!

They walk out of the building, hand in hand. He tells a cheesy joke and nervously kisses her cheek. She laughs and never lets go of his hand. It wouldn't be a happy ending if she did, right?

**Authors Note: I didn't realize your heart could be ripped out by something that you wrote yourself. Thanks for reading!**


End file.
